
M3M43 



•Kg* 






V? ^ • 









■X V rt W O '^ 






■oV .^ 



.^ 















^ 






-i-r- * -a. 
» . o ' ^^'^ 









-^►^ 



\ G^ .'J4^> °o 



4 o 



'K' 



^o. 



^ 



\^ .. -^ 



% 



"^^ 



MfMo '^-..^^ 










^ 



.0^ 



" o 



^_ 



o. 



1-^ 



'S^^ 



-o.^" G^ o "^ . 










-^V7 * *l O 



^ 



'j^.^ 






^^ A^ *'.-^' 



^°-;^ 






^: 



.<v 



\ 



■\ 



< 



<^ 



•' s\ 



\ 






re^' 



.4 o 



o 
o 



.^^ 



"%0 












U 



%\ 



'.-^■^^ 



^W: 



v^ 



^^.•-" 









"^. 






=^ : 



.0./. 









A^ 



^ 



o » , , 



'^ 

^ 



o " o 






-e> 



.4 o^ . ^: 



.) 



•r 



tc 



♦* . ' s (. 



A 



^' 



>$> 



<^ 'o. ,* 

\ G° 

4 o 



y'. 



.> 



^^ 



:^: 






■iP . 



;> 



V' 



^:rv 



^x, .v^ / 



/AJr-,-70.\^ » 



w 






t, 



v-^ 



\^^ 






. » 






° " " - ^ 



.-to. 



v/: 



.f 



0' 









.V o " o , '^- 



o > 











.,■ "^^Ki^i^. ' o.^ 



o 



< o 




-^^,<^''^^ 



^^^4, %.y. Qt 



SENATE No. 63. 



^ommonturaltJj of MuunvLt\^\xutiiu. 



In Senate, Feb. 22, 1842. 

The Joint Special Committee to whom was committed 
the petition of Francis Jackson and others, and sundry 
other petitioners, for a law securing to colored persons 
equal rights in rail-road accommodation : — also the re- 
monstrance of Joseph Nunn, and sundry others, of Sa- 
lem, respectfully submit the subjoined 

REPORT: 

The circumstances which give rise to these petitions, are 
matters of common notoriety throughout the State. While 
some of the rail-road corporations (as for example, the 
Western, Nashua, Boston and Portland, Norwich, Lowell, 
and Worcester,) make no distinction among the passengers, 
but permit every well-behaved person to purchase such 
ticket, whether of the second or first class, as they choose, 
and then to select the car and seat which suit them ; 



^^^.. 






£ 1^^' 

2 RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS. [Feb. 

others, — which are the Eastern Rail-road, Taunton and 
New Bedford, and Providence, — while they in some cases 
demand of the colored man their highest price, place him 
either, as on the Salem road in a decently furnished car 
by himself, or as in other cases, in cars oftentimes neither 
decent nor comfortable, and according to circumstances, 
exposed to the inclemencies of the season. The petition- 
ers ask for some action on the part of the Legislature, by 
which the making of this distinction between colored and 
other citizens, shall be forbidden by law, and prevented by 
penalty. They base their request, not on the supposition 
that the colored man is not as well treated as his white 
fellow-citizen, but on the broad principle that the consti- 
tution allows no distinction in public privileges among the 
different classes of citizens of this Commonwealth. 

That the distinction is made in the cases referred to, 
admits of no doubt. That it is a violation of his rights as 
a citizen, is equally undeniable : — that it is a disability 
which would be an insult to any white man, and which 
the whole nation would be ready to vindicate at the ex- 
pense of her best blood and greatest treasure. It is incon- 
sistent with that part of the first article of the declaration 
of rights in the constitution of our State, which declares 
" that all men are born free and equal, and have certain 
natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which 
may be reckoned," " that of acquiring, possessing and 
protecting property ;" and " that of seeking and obtain- 
ing their safety and happiness." The delay and difficulty 
the colored man experiences in travelling in public convey- 
ances, frequently interfere with his acquiring property, 
when he wishes to pass from place to place on business. 
It interferes with his happiness when he travels for pleas- 



/ 



1842.] SENATE— No. 63. 3 

ure, and he is deprived of the society of his friends if 
thej chance to be of a different complexion. 

The only questions for consideration seem to be, wheth- 
er this matter Hes within the authority of the Legislature, 
and whether any interference on its part is called for. 

That it is the duty, as well as the right of the Legisla- 
ture, to secure to each citizen, not only his own strict 
rights, but also the greatest possible benefit consistent 
with justice and the public good, is not to be questioned. 
These roads exist and derive all their rights and privileges 
from the authority of the Legislature. They are certainly to 
be regarded, so far as the citizens are concerned, as public 
highways, to the equal use of which, on certain conditions, 
every citizen is alike entitled. Responsible to the Leg- 
islature for their proceedings, as appears by their being re- 
quired to exhibit an annual report of their doings, they are 
to be regarded in some sense as public servants, and impera- 
tively bound to use the powers intrusted to them, as much 
for the public benefit as their own, in accordance with the 
spirit of our institutions, and the laws of the Common- 
wealth. Any invidious distinction between different class- 
es of citizens, in consequence of difference in opin- 
ion, sex, color, sect, or other rightful and innocent peculi- 
arity, is manifestly opposed to the spirit of our institutions. 
If passengers were separated because of difference in re- 
ligious belief; if on the common highway certain persons 
were not permitted to travel without appearing in a partic- 
ular dress, it would be regarded as ridiculous and an intol- 
erable nuisance, to be immediately abated. Is color any 
more legal or reasonable ground of such distinction than 
creed ? Massachusetts, throughout her whole code, with 
one exception, makes no distinction on account of color 
among her citizens. Her schools, her jury-box, her offi- 



4 RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS. [Feb. 

cial situations, are all open to all complexions. The word 
white, except in the militia, where she acknowledges the 
authority of the United States constitution, and the in- 
stance just named, is not found in her statute-book. Why 
should she allow corporations a power which she will not 
trust in her own courts ? How shall the State be justified 
in allowing others to make differences in regard to her 
citizens, which she does not presume to make herself? If 
it should be objected, these by-laws are like the rules of 
social life, with which the law has nothing to do ; we an- 
swer, these corporations ar(^ established by State author- 
ity, supported in some cases by State loans, protected 
always and specially by legislation, and their accommoda- 
tions are a right, and not, like social enjoyments, a priv- 
ilege : the equal right of all, not the peculiar privilege of 
anv. 

If it should be objected that the regulation is matter of 
taste, which the feelings'of the majority of the community 
require, — we answer, individual taste is no criterion of 
rights ; and even if the majority do agree in this particular, 
our institutions were established for the very purpose of 
protecting minorities from the tastes of majorities. That 
no real reason even of this kind exists, is evident from 
the fact that the majority of the rail-roads, and those too' 
the largest, make no such distinction, and experience no 
inconvenience from the absence of it. Resides, even 
where this distinction has been made on some roads, your 
committee are informed that slaves have been permitted to 
ride with their masters unmolested, where a free colored 
person is refused a place. That under certain circumstances, 
color can be dispensed with ; and therefore that such ex- 
clusion is unreasonable and unnecessary. 

Your committee are of opinion that the rail-road corpo- 



1842.] SENATE— No. 63. 5 

rations would most cheeifullj submit to any refj;ulation in 
this matter that should be agreeable to the Legislature. 
The Eastern Rail-road Company forbid a white man to 
take a seat in the car devoted to the use of the colored 
people ; we can see in this nothing but an unnecessary as- 
sumption of authority, which the people of this Common- 
wealth will not acquiesce in. If any shall object to taking 
action upon this subject because custom contrary to law 
will not be unnoticed by our courts of justice, and there- 
fore an adequate remedy exists already for any person 
injured by those regulations ; we would say, that in many 
cases Avhere rights were clear at common law, the Legis- 
lature has still enacted special statutes to secure the ob- 
servance of such rights and protect them by penalties. 
As a case in point, we notice the protection of these very 
rail-roads from trespass by persons and cattle. Many 
criminal statutes are directed against cases which had long 
been known as offences at common law. Your commit- 
tee are informed that in one case at least before the su- 
preme court of this Commonwealth, under circumstances 
of much hardship, the judge permitted the prevalence of 
this custom of excluding colored men from the same ac- 
commodations with white passengers, to be given in evi- 
dence before the jury as defence against the party's claim 
for damages — the case of a Brazilian officer, whose in- 
valid wife had been refused decent accommodations on 
board one of our steamboats, some few years since, be- 
cause she was in part of African descent. The prevalence 
of this custom was pleaded by the company against his 
claim for damages, and that successfully. The irritation 
of feeling which such regulations produce, tending to 
constant breaches of the peace, is another reason for 
Legislative action. We need only allude to the recent 



6 RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS. [Feb. 

cases that have occurred in proof of this. Our courts re- 
co2;nize a limitation in the almost sacred freedom of the 
press, when it amounts to libel, because then it tends to 
breach of the peace, — certainly this instance of the same 
and still more imminent danger of that result, calls as 
loudly for the interference of the law. Certainly it can- 
not be out of the sphere of our duties to attempt such leg- 
islation as shall secure to all the inhabitants of the State 
the enjoyment of every right consistent with justice and 
the constitution. The committee unanimously report the 
accompanying bill. 

Per order, 

SETH SPRAGUE, Jr. 



1842.] SENATE— No. 63. 



eommontoealtlj of M^^^^tW^^ttf^* 



In the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Two. 



AN ACT 

Relating to the Rights of Rail-road Passengers. 

iE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of 
the same, as folloius : 

1 Sec. 1. No rail-road corporation shall, by them- 

2 selves, their directors, or others, make or establish any 

3 by-law or regulation, which shall make any distinction, 

4 or give a preference in accommodation to any one or 

5 more persons over others, on account of descent, sect, 

6 or color. 

1 Sec. 2. Any officer or servant of any rail-road 

2 corporation, who shall assault any person for the pur- 

3 pose of depriving him of his right or privilege, in any 

4 car or other rail-road accommodation, on account of 

5 descent, sect, or color, or shall aid or abet any other 



8 RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS. [Feb. 

6 person, in committing such assaalt, shall be punished 

7 by imprisonment in tlie county jail not less than six 

8 days, or by fine not less than ten dollars ; and shall 

9 also be answerable to the person assaulted, to the full 
10 amount of his damage in an action of trespass. 



1842.] senate—No. 63. 



eottimontotiilti) of m^nnatf^mtttn. 



In Senate, Feb. 22, 1842. 

The same Joint Special Committee, to whom was com- 
mitted the petitions of sundry persons praying for some 
action of the Legislature on the subject of the foreign 
slave trade, respectfully report the accompanying resolve. 

Per order, 

S. SPRAGUE, JR., Chairman. 



10 RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS. [Feb. 



eotnmontpea^ltfi of J^asfisacijusettfii^ 



In the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Two. 



RESOLVE 

Relating to the Foreign Slave Trade. 

Resolved, That the senators and representatives of Mas- 
sachusetts in the Congress of the United States be sever- 
ally requested to use every exertion in behalf of a system 
of measures which shall have for its object a more com- 
plete suppression of the slave-trade upon the coast of Af- 
rica than has hitherto been effected, as well as the better 
protection of the American flag from the abuse of it prac- 
tised on said coast, by persons carrying on a trade which 
the United States have solemnly declared to be piracy. 



1842.] SENATE— No. 63. 11 



eommontoealtf) ot J^afissacftttsms. 



Senate, Jan. 29, 1842. 

Ordered, That the Joint Special Committee on the pe- 
tition of Francis Jackson and others, inquire whether any 
measures are necessary to be taken by this Legislature to 
secure to the citizens of this State the rights guaranteed 
to them by the constitution of the United States, when 
in other States of the Union. 

Sent down for concurrence. 

CHAS. CALHOUN, Clerk. 



House of Representatives, Jan. 29, 1842. 
Concurred. 

L. S. CUSHING, Clerk. 



12 RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS. [Feb. 



erommcnlutiiltJi of J^ii?5!5ac!)ttj:icttfii. 



In Senate, Feb. 22, 1842. 



The same Joint Special Committee to whom was com- 
mitted an Order of January 19, and the petitions of sundry 
persons praying for some action of the Legislature on the 
subject of the imprisonment of citizens of this Common- 
wealth in other States where no crime is alleged, respect- 
fully report the accompanying resolves. 

Per order, 

S. SPRAGUE, JR., Chairman. 



HB 1 oa 



1842.] SENATE— No. 63. . 13 



drommonlijralt!) of iHassadjuKcttc. 



In the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Two. 



RESOLVE 



Relating to the Imprisonment of Citizens of this Common- 
wealth in other States. 

Resolved, That the imprisonment of any citizen of 
Massachusetts in the ports, harbors within the borders of 
other States of the Union, without the allegation of any 
crime committed by him, and solely on account of his 
color, constitutes a gross violation of the federal constitu- 
tion, as well as of all the principles of rational liberty ; and 
that his excellency the governor be hereby authorized, in 
any case of the kind that may occur, to cause the legality 
of such imprisonment to be tried before the courts of the 
United States. 



> 



\ 



-p 



•(O 









^ 



.^-' -\ °-?^^%'^'-' •^''^ -'-<<. '• 




-f r#^: 



-^ 





.^o...^-. 




V^'- 




a 




■^ 


Q' 


• i^ 


^ ( 


? • 


4 


o^ 










■^t 


■"-^ 










o 

>. 


'/.''.'•. e 


^-^ ^^^ 

^-*-<'^ 









\D 'o . . •• A. <* 

(3 .<^ .""'''« '<*> 








,N 



O 
°<^ 




^^^ 









-^ 



..r^^V^ 



?^^-V 



> 



' :( 







'■- m^ 







O. • o « o ' . U 

O 












.v^. 






),o ^..\^ 






«\ o " 






?* -^^ % ^\SM^:^*' .<j5" ""^-^ ^^^^^-^^z ^' '^^^ 



A 



,»%_>' "V, 



C 






•0. •** 

o. 






V- 



^ s' V % cv .0 . * •?' > 






-•^'^ 



•/>*b- 



I: A^-^x. 






^^"^ "^^ 



^ A^ 



o 



-^^^v ' ^ ^o V^ 















.■v 






■^o' 



>$^- 



.0 






,f 









^ I'D- ♦ ,x^J'^^v <" ^ 



^°-:^, 





H- <^J^ C^ *^f\ 



J. , A) 



.-^^^ 



O-r. 



^„ 






VS. 













.^'x -mf • *^'% ■ 






o 



'oK 






.-^o^ 




. '^^ .-^"^ ^ k- t< A^ 




♦1 o^ 





^ 

4 




i, 'uSS^i^« '. 







< ST. AUGUSTINE .1;^ ^ j^O vV 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 695 788 7 



.( 



